


Back to You

by TainaPrincess1493



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fix-It, Fluffy Ending, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, romanogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 21:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18646270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TainaPrincess1493/pseuds/TainaPrincess1493
Summary: Steve Rogers is on one last mission, his objective is simple. After all, it's a soul for a soul right?





	Back to You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This is Monica, I'm taking over this account for my friend. I used to translate for her, but after Endgame she's just not feeling it. Tbh I liked the fight scene in Endgame, but I hated what they did to my favorite characters. So this is my attempt to fix it. I want to thank salacious for being gracious enough to help me with this, and for encouraging me to post it. Hope you guys like it. I apologize for any major grammatical disasters.

He casts one last look at Sam and Bucky standing before him, before he grabs the hammer and closes his eyes preparing himself for the discomforting feel of being shrunk and squeezed through time. The destination is already set, first Morag to return the power stone, then New York to return the time and mind stones. After that he didn’t know. Couldn’t choose. But he knew which one would be last. Because he couldn’t go to that place first. If he did, if he set foot on that planet, he’d never finish his mission.

Traveling this way was exhausting. He’d already returned the power, mind and time stones, now he just needed to sneak his way back inside the New Jersey compound. Needed to time it just right so that he could arrive after he and Tony had left but before anyone realized the Tesseract was missing. He still felt a pang when he thought of Tony and his sacrifice, so seeing him in the past was more of a shock than he needed. Steve hadn’t counted on the shock making him stand there like an idiot. He hadn’t even realized really until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Steve turned without really thinking about it and he was met with the brown eyes he’d once upon a time loved so much. He heard her gasp and knew he wasn’t getting out of this one.

“Steve?”

He scratched the back of his neck, the collar of the uniform he’d pilfered becoming a little too tight in that moment.

“How?” She asked when he wouldn’t say anything.

“Peggy,” he sighed and grabbed her hand from where it rested over his heart. “This... I’m not the Steve from this time.”

He winced at the look she gave him, “What are you talking about? You’re right here. I... Steve...”

“I’m still in the Valkyrie right now. I’m just,” he sighed deciding that honesty was the best option here. “I’m just returning something that we had to burrow.”

He showed her the briefcase and the blue space stone. Her eyes widening were all the proof he needed to know nobody had noticed the robbery.

“You took it? This is what’s inside the Tesseract?”

He nodded, “We needed it.”

“Who’s we supposed to be?”

“Peggy, I...,” he sighed, “I really don’t have time to explain. I need to get this back down into the archives.”

“Then take it, I’ll make sure you have the time. But you’re telling me what’s going on.”

He nodded and moved quickly toward where he knew the SHIELD archives were hidden. Putting the stone back into its box was easy, walking back toward where he’d left Peggy was harder. He’d loved her, that was true. But seeing her brown eyes today, feeling her hand on his chest, just made him miss someone else more.

He realized just how much he missed the shade of green her eyes were and how much smaller she was against him. He missed the warmth of her hands against his chest, so much different to the feeling he’d gotten from when Peggy placed her palm against him. But he’d promised, and he was a man of his word if nothing else.

Even if he’d wanted to just leave this time and Peggy behind he couldn’t have, she was waiting in the elevator for him, a serious look on her face. He wisely stayed silent and just followed her. Even once they were in her car and driving away from the base he didn’t say much. He couldn’t stop thinking on the last time he’d been in a car with a woman and this base was their destination. The difference was back then he’d been driving, back then they were on a mission to get to the base, and now he was driving away. And he had to blink hard against the sting of tears in his eyes, because even if this was a different car, and a different time, he couldn’t shake the memories away. He kept hearing her teasing voice, kept seeing her smirk, and gods how he loved her smirks.

“Who is she?” He heard Peggy ask in a low whisper.

He smiled despite himself, “A friend.”

Peggy gave a dry chuckle, “Sounds like more than a friend.”

He stays quiet, he can’t bring himself to talk about Natasha without the fear of breaking down. Not when she promised to see him in a minute only to never come back. And he knew, a part of him knew, that if she had to die this was the way she’d wanted to go. Natasha was the most selfless person he’d ever met, but he couldn’t deny he wished she’d been just a little selfish this time.

Things were quiet the rest of the drive, and Steve was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped when Peggy touched him.

“Sorry, but we’re here. I know you don’t have much time, but I think I deserve an explanation.”

He nodded, “You do. But I can’t stay. I’m sorry, I have... there’s a mission I need to finish. A friend I have to bring home.” His voice broke a bit just then and he swallowed hard against the scream of frustration that wanted to escape his throat. He clenched his fist and followed Peggy inside the quaint little house with the pretty porch they’d driven up to.

Once inside she stopped and looked at him, he was still standing at the door, a part of him hesitating at the idea of walking further in.

“Steve,” she called and he relented.

He gave a once over to her living space, noting that unlike her office there were no pictures of him in this space. Something that made him incredibly grateful.

“I can’t tell you everything,” he warned quickly.

“Just tell me as much as you can. You said... you said you’re still in the Valkyrie, how?”

He sighed and sat down, “I’m from a few years into the future. Something bad happened a few years ago, from my perspective and we, my team and I, we needed the Tesseract to fix it.”

“And you had to come to the past for this?” She asked skeptically.

“We did. In our time, the stone,” he said ignoring the fact that it was more than one stone, “it was gone. We weren’t aiming for now, but things happened and we missed our first shot, this was our last option.”

“And you won’t stay?”

“I can’t. I have a mission, Peggy. And despite how difficult it was at first, I have a family back in that time and I can’t, I won’t abandon them.”

“This mission that you have, does it have to do with your friend?”

“She’s not my only objective, but yes, she’s a big part of it.”

Peggy sighed looking to the side and biting her lip, “Would you tell me about her?”

He smiles, “She’s amazing, even if she is a bit of a pain in my ass sometimes. Tasha’s a lot like you in some ways, and a lot different in others. She was,” his voice trails off and he has to cough before he can continue, “she was my partner and then she was my friend. And she sacrificed her life to save the world. So I owe her. I can’t leave her alone, not when she didn’t leave me alone even when it meant forfeiting her freedom.”

Peggy swallowed, “She sounds like a formidable woman.”

He smiled, “She was. Peggy, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for coming back here and not being able to stay...”

“Don’t. I’m not going to lie, this hurts, but I understand. I just... is it wrong that I wish things could be different?”

Steve shook his head and stood, “Dance with me,” he said quietly extending his hand to her. Peggy grabbed it and he smiled at her, “I owe you a dance and I’ll make good on that.”

“But then you have to go.”

“I do,” he confirmed even though she hadn’t worded it as a question.

They swayed slowly to some imaginary music and even as he danced with her, as he fulfilled his promise, he felt wrong. She didn’t fit in his arms the way Natasha had, and maybe it was the wrong thing to think about on that moment but he missed her. As nice as it was dancing with Peggy, the feel of her, the smell of her was all wrong and his resolve to go back to his time hardened. Even if he wanted to stay in this time, if he could see the possibility of staying despite messing up Peggy’s life, he knew he wouldn’t feel ok staying.

“She taught you well,” Peggy whispered looking up at him with a bittersweet smile as they slowly stopped swaying. “You should go, go before I make a fool of myself asking you to stay.”

He nodded and placed a kiss on her hand, “I’m sorry, Peggy. Goodbye.”

He walked backwards away from her and pressed the device on his hand once more feeling himself be squeezed through the quantum realm.

Steve hadn’t known what to expect from the planet that had taken her away from him. He imagined a dark and desolate place, he imagined hating the place. But once he was there, he saw the beauty in the place. Maybe it was because in this place he felt closest to Natasha than he had in weeks. And a weird sense of peace filled him, he’d bring her home and that was one promise he wouldn’t break.

He stood looking at the mountain before him, easily locating the spot where Clint had told him he needed to begin his climb. He didn’t feel the cold, didn’t feel the wind biting against his face. He just felt the weight of the stones, the weight of Mjölnir in his hand. As he climbed more memories of Nat and their time together seemed to assault his mind, until he lashed out and slammed his fist against an outcropping of rock. Now, now that he was alone, in this place of all places, he let his façade fall. Finally here in the silence, in the stillness of that barren planet he let out the scream he’d been suppressing ever since he’d seen Clint collapse on that platform. But he kept walking, because he was one step closer to getting her back.

He made it to the top and he wasn’t even winded, his calm persisted even when the floating form of the Red Skull appeared before him.

“Steven son of Sarah, you already posses that which most come here seeking. And yet I sense that what you posses is not what you want.”

“You’re right. I’m here to return the stone, and to get her back.”

The Red Skull shifted, he looked surprised, “You would willingly return the stone?”

“I have no need of it. Beyond temptation, the stones serve no purpose.”

“You really are an unusual man, Steven Rogers. But even returning the stone, I cannot guarantee you will get her back.”

“Why not? I’ll go wherever I need to, I just want to bring her home.”

“And I can understand that feeling, but the stone accepted her sacrifice, and death does not easily release that which she once took.”

The Red Skull didn’t say anything else and instead turned and began walking forward, Steve following close behind. They walked farther along the mountain until Steve could see the cliff edge that Clint had described in detail at Steve’s request. Schmidt’s spectrum poised by the ledge and gestured.

“Release the stone. It is usually a soul for a soul, in this case you are returning one, and even I do not know what death will decide.”

Steve walked toward the cliff’s edge and looked down, he couldn’t see Natasha’s body down there and he wondered just how fully death had accepted her sacrifice. The soldier took a deep breath, the soul stone shinning brightly in the cradle of his hand, like the stone was happy to be back where it belonged. He swallowed, his mind blank but for thoughts of Natasha, he could clearly see her red blonde hair shinning in the sunlight that filtered through the tree canopy that sheltered Tony’s mountain lodge, he smiled at the memory of how young she’d looked with the side braid she had insisted he help her with, and then he opened his palm and tipped it down. Releasing the soul he held in his hand, a tear making its way down his cheek.

He watched until he had to close his eyes when the gust of wind picked up. The next thing he knew, he was lying on a lake. The same lake Clint had said he’d woken up in, the stone in his hand, and no Natasha. Steve still couldn’t open his eyes, he knew he no longer had the stone, but being in this lake, he knew that this was the end, and he couldn’t face that end if it meant that Nat wasn’t with him, if it meant he’d failed in getting her back.

He sighed and opened his eyes, looking at the sky above him, before the colors looked different, darker; the planet was still quiet and still around him, but the colors had definitely lightened. Finally moving he sat up, determined to go right back up the mountain that he could still se in the distance. Before getting to his feet he ran a wet cold hand through his hair, frustrated that even giving the stone back had managed nothing, but then he heard a noise behind him.

He turned quickly, his hand closing around Mjölnir’s handle, but he let it go just as quickly once he realized the source of the noise. “Nat,” he whispered as he scrambled to his feet and made his way to her.

She was a few feet from him, also lying in the lake, her hair still in its braid, she was still wearing her uniform, and despite how surprised Steve was he could see that she was breathing. He fell to his knees beside her, his hands hovering over her, a part of him too afraid to touch her, in case she’s just a figment of his imagination.

“Nat, gods Nat, please just say something.”

She moaned a little, eyelids fluttering open, “Steve?” She questioned in a little whisper.

Steve couldn’t speak, he just closed his arms around her and pulled her body against him. She slowly closed her own arms around him, and he felt her start to cry.

“What are you doing here?”

He kissed her forehead and pulled back slightly while still holding her in his arms, “Returning the stone, and getting you back.”

She chuckled softly, “Stubborn man.”

“Yeah, you’d know something about being stubborn. Don’t ever do something like this again.”

She looked at him softly, lifting a shaking hand to place against his cheek, “How am I even here?”

“We won, and Bruce made a promise to return the stones.”

“And naturally you decided to take on that mission.”

He nodded, “With a promise to Clint that I’d get you back.”

Natasha shook her head, “You shouldn’t have.”

“I had to try, Natasha. I didn’t want you to be alone here.”

“You could have died trying this.”

“That didn’t matter...”

“It should have,” she frowned looking at him, “but you’ve done it. What are we supposed to do now?”

“I just have to return the aether and Mjölnir and then I can go home.”

“You mean ‘we’, or do you think I’ll let you go to Asgard on your own?”

Steve sighs, “Nat, you should go home. You still have the quantum GPS...”

“No,” she slowly moved to get up, “I’m going with you. We... I... please Steve.”

He runs a hand through his hair, groaning, “You’re so stubborn, Tasha.”

“So are you and I don’t recall saying it to your face,” she said with a smirk.

Steve rolled his eyes, and smirked at her, “Seems like your memory is going faulty, Miss Romanoff.”

She glared at him playfully, “That was comment, I didn’t say it to your face.”

“Sure,” he said, loving the light blush that stained her cheeks. “If you’re sure, do you remember which date we picked for Asgard?” He waited until she nodded and started imputing the information onto the device Tony had created before walking back to retrieve Mjölnir and the briefcase that still held the aether.

He could feel Natasha’s eyes on him, and when he picked the hammer up he heard her laugh softly, “I knew it. You faked it at that party didn’t you?”

He gave her a look, but didn’t give her an answer, “I missed you, you know?” He asked softly and then continued without giving her a chance to speak, “On the count of three.”

And once he gets down to one they activate the suits. Steve is sure that traversing the quantum tunnel is still as uncomfortable as it was at the beginning, but somehow this time it doesn’t feel like that. He’s sure it’s got everything to do with the person who is currently traveling it with him. And even as that thought hits him, they’re deposited on the Asgardian palace. He checks Natasha over, making sure she’s ok, and steadying her when she wobbles a bit.

“You ok?” He asks concerned

“Yeah, that was just worse than I remembered.”

He pulls her close, his hand around her waist, “You could stay here...”

“No, Steve. I’m going with you.”

“упрямый.”

She rolls her eyes at him but says nothing. And Steve isn’t sure if it’s because she’s choosing to ignore him, or if it has to do with the way her body is trembling all over. He’s concerned that he shouldn’t have let her come on this trip, but there aren’t very many ways to keep Natasha Romanoff from doing what she wants. So he starts walking forward, moving her along with him, and he pretends to not notice how she’s leaning most of her weight on him.

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

“I have a vague idea. Thor said I should return the stone to his mother, she’d know what to do.”

“And I do know what to do, Captain. You and your friend should follow me.”

They follow the blonde woman all the way to a bedroom where she invites them in and closes the door behind them. Frigga turns to them and smiles, “I see my son chooses his friends well.”

Steve frowns unsure of what she means.

“You are worthy, Captain. And you keep your promises. Tell me, were you able to fix your reality?”

“We did.”

She sighs with relief, “Good. I already suspect my fate once we leave this room. But a mother never stops worrying for her children.”

“Thor physically made it through fine,” Steve says. He looks at Natasha when he feels her squirming a little against him, but releases her so she can walk around. He can tell she’s restless and not feeling well, but he knows she’s too stubborn to admit it. He wishes he could do this quickly, but Frigga deserves at least some information about her son.

“I am glad. Is he,” she hesitates, “better?”

Steve moves closer to her, “He’s trying to find himself,” he admits gently.

The queen smiles, “He is so much like his father. Thor will find himself, Captain, and you will have your friend back.”

“I hope. We... we’ve lost too much already.”

“I take it some of your comrades did not make it through.”

“No, some didn’t.”

“I am sure that Tony son of Howard was welcomed in Valhalla with the gates wide open.”

Steve hears a gasp behind him, and he turns just in time to see Natasha sway and begin to fall. He lunges across the room and manages to catch her just before she hits the floor. “Nat,” he says her name a bit desperately, “Tasha, wake up. I just got you back. You aren’t doing this to me, do you understand?”

He presses his fingertips to the pulse at her neck and curses when he registers how weak it feels, “Ебать. Natasha,” he blinks the tears that dot his eyelashes, one of his hands getting tangled in her long red/blonde hair, “Tasha, I can’t do this without you.”

“Captain,” he hears a gentle voice, and he realizes that he’d completely forgotten about Thor’s mother being in the room. “I sense your friend has had too close an encounter with perhaps the most dangerous of the gems. Take this,” she hands him a vial, “it might help. And now go home. She needs to rest if her soul is to recover. Go, Captain. Rest assured that I will deliver the Aether to Thor, he will know what to do.”

Steve doesn’t hesitate a second longer, he sets Mjölnir down next to her, “Thank you.”

“No, thank you for being like a brother to my son. Now go, take care of her.”

Steve nods and activates both quantum suits, never letting go of Natasha even as he feels the squeeze that indicates they’re traveling back home.

He feels his speed slowing slightly but not enough where the impact with the platform won’t be jarring. Still he wraps Natasha up protectively in his arms, taking most of the impact from their landing. He groans and then he’s screaming for Bruce to get his ass over.

“She just collapsed. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Steve, what? Did you... you weren’t supposed to mess with time?”

“And I didn’t. Returning the stone, returned her. Now help me, before I lose her again.”

The three men move at once, but Steve ignored them and starts marching toward the quinjet, getting there and then getting to the Tower is his new mission. Sam, Bucky and Banner can follow if they want. He makes it there in big strides, places Nat on the medical table before moving to the pilot’s spot. He’s already starting the takeoff sequence when Sam’s hand lands on his shoulder.

“I’ll fly us, you stay with her.”

Steve nods and moves out of the way as Sam takes his place. He walks back over to the medical area where Bruce is already inserting an IV into the back of Nat’s hand. He watches silently and once Bruce has her hooked up to the bag of fluids he steps over to the other side of the bed.

“Thor’s mother gave me this,” he says, voice a little hoarse, “she said it might help.”

Bruce takes the vial from him and hooks it up to the IV bag. He checks Nat’s vitals once more, writing something down on a notebook Steve hadn’t even noticed.

“I called Barton, I hope you don’t mind. Used your phone,” Bucky said before handing him the device.

“Thanks. She’ll want to see him.”

“She’ll be ok, punk. Even death couldn’t separate you two.”

“It came damn close already.”

Three days, that’s how long he’d been at her bedside. They’d gotten to the Tower in record time, had hooked her up to every medical machine known to man, and they still couldn’t wake her up. Physically she’d been fine, if a little malnourished, undoubtedly from not eating right in her quest to get everyone back and make their mission a success back before she’d sacrificed herself for the stone. Steve has felt a pang if guilt hit him when Bruce had informed him. Natasha had refused to leave the facility, had refused to move on or to do something that didn’t involve taking care of the world.

He should have been there, instead he’d left her to shoulder all that responsibility. He’d spent most of his time away from the compound, only coming back to eat, sleep and do his laundry. He’d called her his friend, but he’d ignored her in her time of need, and now, now that he’d just gotten her back, now that he was ready to admit to both of them that she was more than just a friend, he could lose her. There hadn’t been any significant changes in the last three days, sure her vitals were a little stronger, but nowhere near where they should be, and he was going sick with worry.

Barton had arrived on the first day. The quinjet making quick work of the trip from Iowa to New York, his family along for the ride. And Steve had to hold back tears, when little Nate had asked to hug his godmother, talking to her and pleading with her to wake up. Clint had started crying the second he’d seen her and Laura was comforting him and their elder kids, so he’d taken it upon himself to be there for Nate. He was the boy’s godfather, but Natasha and Nate had always had a special bond, and the little boy was distraught.

“She’ll wake up soon, right uncle Steve?”

“Yeah, she will, kiddo. She’s too stubborn to do otherwise.” That’s what he’d said, but now at 3:45 in the morning of the third day with her unconscious he was starting to fear she might never wake up.

And there in the dark and stillness of her room, the tears he’d been holding at bay were finally freed. His tears felt hot as they fell down his cheeks, and he gripped her hand tighter in his. “You have to wake up, Tasha. If not for me, then for Nate, and Cooper and Lila. They need you, I need you. I don’t want to be alone. You can’t, Tasha, you can’t leave us. Please just wake up, please.”

He continued pleading with her quietly, eventually putting his head over their joined hands on the bed. It wasn’t long before his exhaustion got the better of him and he fell asleep.

Steve woke to the feel of someone running their hand through his hair and he stilled. He knew that hand, but he couldn’t believe it. Cautiously he turned his head, feeling the hand leave his hair. His eyes made contact with a pair of brilliant green ones that were looking at him tiredly. Steve shifted, his hand settling against her cheek and watching as she nuzzled into it.

“Ma’am,” he said softly a smirk dancing on his lips.

She smiled back, “Hi.”

Steve let out a strangled laugh and then wrapped her up in his arms, “You’re back.”

“I am,” she swallows, “I guess you were right, I should have come straight home.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, “You wouldn’t be you if you listened to me.”

“You day that like I never follow orders, soldier.”

“Only when you like them,” he stays quiet after that, just looking at her, watching her eyes take in their surroundings.

“He’s really gone?”

Steve looks at the blanket covering her, before distracting himself with getting her a glass of water.

“Steve.”

He swallows, and helps her drink from the glass, “He is. Tony snapped that bastard and his army straight out of existence.”

A tear makes its way slowly down her cheek, “Morgan and Pepper?”

“At the cabin. Pepper was there. She got to say goodbye.”

“Ok. Who else didn’t make it?”

“Everyone else is accounted for. We had some casualties in the Wakandan soldiers and some of the wizards, and Vision is still gone, but otherwise we made it through.”

She nods, “And Barton? He better be ok, or I’m wiping the floor with him.”

“He’s fine. Here in fact, waiting for you to wake up. The kids are here too, and Laura.” More tears slip down her face and he brushes his thumb over her cheek, “You did this, Nat. Your sacrifice meant we could get them back. But promise me, promise me you’ll never pull a stunt like that again. You said in a minute...,” he trails off unable to finish his sentence.

Her hand closes above his on her cheek and she smiles a bittersweet smile, “I can’t promise you that, soldier. But I can promise I’ll always try my hardest to come back.”

“And that’s enough. Gods, Natasha. I love you, I love you and I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he heard her gasp, but continued before she could say anything. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry it took me this long. I’m sorry I left you alone the last five years...”

“Hey, you didn’t leave me alone. And I love you too. So much, soldier that sometimes it feels like it’ll destroy me.”

Steve have her a watery smile and then he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a sweet kiss. “I love you, Natasha Romanoff, and I’m never letting you go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Marvel still owns everything.


End file.
